Not All Good Things Need End
by AWOL-owl
Summary: San, an earthbender recently returned to republic city is on a mission, only cheif Beifong keeps getting in her way, she seems to be on both sides of the fence with the chief, but then again wasn't she always? they share a secret, one neither of them is keen on ever getting out, but it might not be up to them. just read it! *beta writen by pandamochi123.*
1. Chapter 1

**(AN: this chapter has been made readable by the lovely pandamochi123, so you know the drill, go cyber-stalk thier account! mwahahahaha! but seriously thanks! soooo much! to everyone ealse, enjoy and please review when you're done, I can't improve if you're not honest with me.)**

The dark-haired girl smirked crookedly as the police officers argued among themselves. She knew if they'd been faced with anyone less talented in the art of "string pulling" than her, they would never had argued in front of someone. In a unit like the metal-benders force, internal conflicts were worked out in debriefings held behind closed doors and under the supervision of a superior officer.  
Finally the metal cable had been pried from her wrist without the police officers noticing. She shifted her weight and simultaneously slammed her foot down throwing out her left hand, the earth rumbled beneath her before it opened up and she disappeared. The cops were quick to pursue her, but she seemed to have been exceptionally well trained and with their very own tactics and procedures, she knew exactly when and where to go in order to avoid their recapturing her.  
Once San could no longer feel them pursuing her, she ducked into a busy building and acted as though she belonged there. The young adult then managed to get deep into the throng of an ongoing party, there, San became quite sure she was safe from being held suspect of anything. She took a pastry from a passing waiter and indignantly stuffed half of it into her mouth, causing her to chock slightly. With her eyes closed, she attempt to cough up whatever threatened to chock her and rounded a corner and walked straight into someone, and to her relief, that seemed to clear her airway.  
"San," a familiar voice scolded, thus causing her to choke yet again.  
"... Chie-" -cough, cough- "Chief, oh wow fancy seeing you here," the older woman nearly believed the younger adult, her voice was had a tone that even Lin couldn't tell whether she was being sarcastic or ernest, although, Lin knew the person behind the voice better than that.  
"Damn it, San, what are you doing here?!" Chief Lin Beifong crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at the girl in front of her as she waited for a response.  
San, managing to keep her cool despite the jolt of nerves running through her veins at seeing the chief, leaned back and smiled "Well, I was looking for you of course!" San stopped talking at the look on Lin's face. Damn, she wasn't fooling anyone. Lin grabbed hold of her arm, using a little more force than necessary, and dragged San towards the exit.  
"Come on, kid, I'm taking you home. Its way past you're curfew!" Lin said while making their way on the street.  
San made a scoffing sound and pulled her arm free, "I'm 18. Besides, I can take care of myself, Republic City's 'big-bad' streets don't scare me" she muttered as the pair crossed a street and turned a corner, heading up town.  
The Chief tried not to laugh "You're still a teenager. Besides, when do you ever go through the 'big-bad streets' of Republic City?" Lin hadn't meant it as an accusation, but as a statement of fact, at least until San went quiet, "San!?" she pushed.  
"Well, I just popped by some triad territories on my way home this evening... No biggy. I mean it's not like I went and nearly got arrested or anything," she said, side stepping as Lin's expected arm flew through the air where her chest had just been, San stopped anyway and looked at Lin expectantly.  
"You what!? What am I supposed to do with you San? It's like you do these things on purpose!"  
"Feed me, love me, never leave me." San said, avoiding the rest of Lin's sentence.  
Time seemed to drag as they walked up the last hill, while Lin silently fuming next to her.  
"But you know what? You'll have some interesting stories waiting for you when you get briefed tomorrow." San saying it as though this might make it better. She knew it wouldn't, but it worth a shot. Lin had such a dry sense of humor lately, ever since Amon got away, she's been edgy and reports came in that he and his brother, Tarrlok, perished in a boating accident. Although, Lin refused to believe it until they found a body, and so far, there had been no word from any of the United Forces working on that particular case.  
"Well tomorrow is today if you haven't noticed. It's three a.m. Aren't you tired? You look tired." Lin chided as they were now at the front door now, she then flipped the lock on it's inside with her metal-bending.  
As they walked in, flicking on the main flight, San sighed, "You look tired. Are you hungry? I'll fix something up if you want." Lin knew the offer wasn't San being kind or caring, it was just her trying to get back onto Lin's good books, and she declined the offer anyway, "No, I ate at the party, you should probably eat though... And look at you, goodness gracious, get cleaned up now. I'll fix you something while you bathe, and then it's straight to bed!" Lin dispersed to the kitchen, leaving San standing in the lounge out of sight and free to make childish faces in Lin's direction. "I'm not five anymore! You don't have to boss me around and baby me!" San called, as she headed off to do as told anyway.  
"I know," Lin said, "But you're still my little girl." she heard San scoff on the other side of the house, "Besides, you were easier to handle when you were five."

"Whatever."

It was late, or rather early, when both Lin and San had cleaned themselves up and changed into loose night cloths. Lin wore a pair of black pants and a faded earth nation shirt that she used to wear when she was San's age. San wore a dark long sleeved shirt and a pair of pants, similar to Lin's, and were a very dark shade of green, that they looked black- they had been Toph's work pants at some point, and were still a bit big on her, so she rolled the waist band over to keep them up.  
The pair sat at a high dining table while San ate the noodles that Lin had made her and Lin read a police briefing. Lin noticed the way San's eyes scrolled over the pages, not really reading since San couldn't really read well enough, but just searching for those few interesting words: Beifong, arrested, captured, urgent, important, update, threat and anything else that might have a good story attached.  
"When do you think you'll get your rank back" San asked suddenly. Although Lin was technically no longer Chief of Police, it was a habit to everyone who knew her to call her that anyway. San especially.  
"The council and the top ranking officers are having a meeting later today to discuss that. Since I have made an appeal to reclaim it and Saikhan doesn't actually want to resign from the rank, we have to put it to a democratic vote." Lin sighed, she was as disappointed in Saikhan as San was, she had hoped he wouldn't go power crazy in her absence, but it would seem that she was wrong.  
Lin was momentarily lost in thought as she filled out her paper work and reminisced Saikhan's training that she didn't notice San fall asleep at the table nor did she notice that the sun had begun to rise.  
She wished for a moment that San was still five so she wouldn't have to wake her, but at the age of six San had declared herself old enough not to need her caring and that was the end of that.  
San was still groggy when Lin woke her and this worried Lin, usually San would become instantly alert. How long had San been out yesterday? Lin couldn't remember the last time she had seen the girl sleep. Two days ago, maybe... But, surely, she had slept since then.  
Lin helped San to her room, where the shorter and younger girl, who looked like a mix of Lin and Toph, unceremoniously dumped herself onto the bed and pulled the cover over her head. Lin couldn't help but smile and laugh lightly as she left to get a couple of hours of sleep herself. Although, she barely heard San's muffled "goodnight."

**(so there, who wants more? well I do, so it dosn't really matter ALL that much, still, PLZ REVIEW!)**


	2. Chapter 2

**(Again i'd just like to give a shout out to our beta: pandamochi123 for all her hard work! and i know it will be heard at times trying to understand what i'm trying to write. haha. so heres to another chapter.)**

San slept for more than 12 hours, so when she finally woke up, it was already dark again. No one else was home, so none of the lights had been switched on, but that didn't bother San, so she walked into the bathroom and poured a pitcher of cold water over her head.

The nightmare had been the same as it always had, it started with 4 year old San sitting in the dirt around a playground. San had been just learning how to bend earth at this age and she sat punching the earth with her pudgy toddler fists and making it shift so they moved through easily. Unfortunately, she didn't sense the approach of three teenage boys who seemed to be looking for an easy target.

The area was deserted, no one had been there to supervise her, and she had in fact, made her own way out while her mother was at work and the sitter was asleep. The boys laughed together as they teased her and pulled her hair, in a desperate attempt to make them stop she had a fit, San stomped the ground, making small pebbles of earth pelt at the three boys. They didn't like that at all, one of them said something about her bending while another boy, who was an earthbender, opened up a hole in the ground. They then forced her into it and then closed it around her so that only her head and the tips of her shoulders were sticking out. After that, one of them kicked a rock at her, slicing her across her forehead, just above her temple. Once that was done, the three then left her there.

Stuck in the ground, scared, bleeding and alone, San only cried. She was crying mostly because of the cut on her head hurt and she couldn't do much about it, she couldn't even wipe away her tears due to the fact she was stuck. She had tried everything to get out of that hole, she tried wiggling, she tried using her hands and feet to bend out of it, but she wasn't that good enough. What happened earlier was an accident, and she didn't know how to do it again.

She knew that there were people close enough to hear her if she screamed loud enough for help, but she didn't want to do that. She didn't want anyone to know she had been bullied and trapped in a hole.

In the end, San was stuck in the hole for so long that night fell. Her body went numb, her head had been long gone as she was dizzy and she kept drifting in and out of consciousness. San suspected that she wet her pants as well, but by then, noticing such things were beyond her. She had drifted into consciousness at one point just in time to see the shinny metal of a policeman's uniform as he gently picked her up. Then moments later, she saw a darker colored uniform, with a brighter gold trim. San then felt a pair of arms tug her out of whoever's arms she had been in earlier. The new arms held her tightly and she remembered hearing her name, knowing she was safe.

But the dreams didn't end with that memory. The memories continued.

10 year old San threw a bolder in the direction of three young adult males. A fight was breaking out so large, that the police had to show up and arrest all of them. San was placed in an interrogation room to await the chief and it seemed that the damage she had done while kicking butts had been so bad that the chief was notified, or maybe it was because San refused to cooperate.

"What is your name?" Officer Jia demanded as she leaned across the table and looked over at her. San held her ground and glared at him, "Tell me, you have to tell me who you are so I know who to notify" he demanded as he switched his tactics at the last moment for a gentler kinder approach, although San remained unfazed, "Not my problem." she informed him.  
When the chief showed up, she took Officer Saikhan in with her to teach him how to interrogate using the good cop, bad cop routine, Chief Beifong was obviously bad cop.  
"Whats your name kid?" the chief demanded, her voice deep and unyielding. She and San stared at each other for a few minutes, seeming to communicate with their eyes before San huffed and pouted slightly. She informed the chief that they managed to get her name, age, and an explanation of what had happened before the girl clamped up again. The chief and Saikhan's tactics didn't work and eventually, they just put her in one of the back cells to cool off. San had told them there where no parents to inform, which was partly true and not so uncommon. All the same, Lin knew she was lying, although, her heart rate and breathing had fooled Saikhan.  
The chief had waited until everyone went home to fetch San from her cell. Lin, at first, yelled at San, just as San yelled at her, Lin then left her in the cell and went home.  
The next morning, San was given a ticket to the earth kingdom and enough money to live off of for a month. Momentarily, an unknown police officer then escorted her to the station and onto her train.  
Gaoling held nothing for San and she refused to use the money that was given to her or stay with any of her family's homes, so she went to farm after farm until she found one to work at. She worked there for almost two years while ignoring any communication from Republic City half heartedly.  
A week after her twelfth birthday, the farm was attacked by a group of benders, fire and earth alike. The benders tore up everything, they burnt the animals in front of San and the small family who owned the farm, being forced to stand in the mud as she watched. They took the mother of the family hostage, and told the husband, oldest son and San, if any of them tried anything, they would burn her just like the way they had burnt the animals to death. San didn't dare defy them as she held the youngest child to her side and covered their ears, trying to protect them from the horrible sounds of screaming cattle, burning flesh and boiling insides. The smell hurt San's nose and the heat hurt her eyes but she refused to cry, crying had never gotten her anywhere before, not even when she had nothing else. The two attacking benders noticed this and they did not like it, they saw it as defiance, so they tore her away from the child, and threw her to the ground. They beat her until she bled and screamed, until tears of pain fell, and until she was unable to stop, a path streaked through the dirt and soot, covering her face, even then she didn't really cry, her eyes just watered. She yelled at the family to not do anything stupid and that she would be fine. They obliged, none of them were benders anyway and the two men who destroyed everything were physically stronger and they were also strong benders. But, eventually, they grew bored of beating San and instead they went into the house to destroy it. The small family then rushed over to San, who was already struggling into a crouch. The eldest son pulled her up and she hushed them and pointed to a bunker in the ground that she had earthbend earlier that day to store equipment in. She told them to get inside and she convinced them that she would follow before she earthbended the entrance closed and concealed all indication that it had ever existed. San knew they would be able to get out through the back that opened up in the stockroom on the other side of the farm later, but she also knew that she wouldn't follow them. She wasn't strong enough and as soon as she finished closing up the entrance, she collapsed back into the mud, going unconscious. Later, she woke in her bed with the family cleaning up the mess that was left three days earlier.

San remembered staying with that family and helping them rebuild their farm with her earthbending. This was the first time she sent anything back to Republic City and what she sent was a letter to her mother confessing how she felt that she had failed miserably in her duty to protect that family and the cattle, and how she felt that if she hadn't been such a coward, she would have stuck up to the threat and pummeled them into the ground before they had the chance to do any harm. She felt as if it was her to blame, and as far as San was concerned, she was as bad as the two benders who destroyed everything, and maybe even worse, because she had done nothing to stop them. She later informed her mother she would stay there until the farm was in a better condition than it had ever been.  
It wasn't until she was 17 when she returned to Republic City. Although, it wasn't on her own accord, her mother had forced her to return, claiming that San needed to stop trying to make Amiens for something that wasn't her fault but San had not agreed. She, however, returned because if she was honest with herself, she missed it, she had missed the city and she had missed her mother, she missed having someone take care of her, but then she also didn't want to lose the independence she had developed.

Since she left the farm, San had been having these nightmares every night, at first her mother had rushed into her room and shaken her awake, then held San for a very long time, despite San not having known she wanted to be held.  
Nowadays, San stopped having a physical reaction to the dreams when she slept, although she knew that sometimes, her mother would know anyway and wake her up or just sit in San's room while she slept.  
But they never went away, the memories of being buried at 4 and the memories of the animals being burnt alive would never leave her.

Suddenly, San was brought back to reality as the front door opened, and a voice called out to her, asking why she hadn't turned the lights on.

**(so I know people read this story (20 someodd views) but apparently ONLY 1 out of +20 review! le gasp! come on i'd review you're story... infact I probrably have!)**


	3. Chapter 3

**(A/N: Once again a big shout out to pandamochi123 for the all the hard work beta-ing this story for me!  
I also wanted to throw a shout out to all you reviewers because... guys some loving goes a long way! :D espicialy when its slightly whitty.  
'me': I give you my seal of appriciation! lol.  
Keep em coming people!)  
**  
San sat at a dull desk in a dull building in the middle of a dull street, while on the other side of the bay, to where all the excitement was, something was currently going down with the police force and the Tripple threat triads, San hated it.

_Smack!  
_  
Sans head made contact with the desk in frustration. She was in a literature class, the kind five year olds took, where you had to trace and copy oversized letters on boldly lined pieces of paper, then do it all over fifty more times, or read out stupid sentences like 'the Turtle-Duck, snapped, at the snapping Snap-Fish.'  
It was her mothers idea, because San had the reading and writing level of an 8 year old after abandoning her studies when she was sent back to the earth kingdom.  
Even though her mother seemed to think it was very important that she learned, right now, San was failing to see the importance. The words on her page were just blotches of ink as she thought about what was happening on the other side of the bay.  
_Smack! Smack! Smack!  
_"Alright! Your session is over," the teacher announced looking at his watch. San knew there was still another three hours and forty-five minutes to go though since she had been counting. "Now get out of my class before you break my desk with that thick head of yours," his last words where spoken to an empty seat as San flew out the door.

It had been the longest five hours of her life, she still had to catch the fairy back across the bay, which was torture. Normally it would be a twenty minute trip, but it just so happened she had caught one of the special services that stopped at Air-Temple Island, Memorial Aang Island and the Bending Arena. Because of it, the trip took an hour and fifteen minutes and during that agonizingly long trip, San seriously considered whether she could learn how to swim by throwing herself over board.

By the time San reached the warehouse, Skoochy had told her about that morning, The building was deserted, there were a couple of saved earthen pillars, along with that, there were puddles or water and piles of ash. Unfortunately, there was no sign of the police or the Triple Threat Triad,_ too bad _thought San, _looks like it was one hell of a fight, I bet they're down at police headquarters  
_

The Police Headquarters was a beehive of people; officers and chairs where outnumbered by complaining citizens by the dozen. It was so loud that you couldn't make out any single voice, although, you could hear loud annoying humming, knowing that everyone was in a bad mood.  
All the interrogation rooms were full with just arrested triad members, as well as most of the cells.  
Lin had just reclaimed her rank as chief and was well aware of the people, like Saikhan, who where keeping a close eye on her, just waiting for her to slip up.  
It seemed that a lot of the officers now harbored a distrust in Lin ever since she resigned when they needed her most. Unfortunately, they didn't understand that resigning was necessary in order to do what needed to be done.  
She sighed as yet another scum-sucker hit on her.  
"if that's all then, Officer Zane will be taking you to our quite fitting 'accommodation,'" Lin said with a flick of her hand, "Officer Zane."  
Officer Zane stepped forward and did as told leaving the interrogation room's door open.  
Lin sighed again as she cracked her tense neck. The revolting criminals had been talking her up, all morning and physically assaulting her other officers. If she thought there was going to be a lot of paperwork after the tactical assault they underwent arresting the Triad members this morning was going to be a pain, she hated thinking about what it would be like once they had finally gotten everyone locked away.  
With the door open she could here the all the ruckus from the lobby.

When San had entered Headquarters it was so busy that no one had time to pay attention or even notice her as she walked through the lobby and down a corridor.  
San knew her way around the Police Headquarters well, she had been taken on tours various times, either with a group of students as part of an _official tour_, when she was arrested, or when she would bring the officers lunch orders from Narook's last year. Her knowledge led her to walk the halls efficiently, and before she knew it, she was going through the interrogation block. She closed her eyes as she walked focusing on the voices up ahead while looking for which way would have less officers to potentially catch her.  
Two sets of footsteps approached the wall behind her, she felt the movements as a door was opened up in it, as quick as she could San reopened her eyes and dashed down to the 'T' junction ahead. She turned left just in time to avoid being spotted as the officer dragged a felon her way turning right, where San had turned left, she watched them carefully and pressed up against the wall.  
_I bet they're going to the cells_, she though to herself,_ this'll be the best chance I have of finding what I came for. _With that, San followed after them.

Lin was brought to attention as a group of her officers ran past the open interrogation room door, and on impulse, she stood up and rushed out after them. _Has there been a security breach? _she wondered as she drew closer to the commotion at the end of the hall. the officers were standing there blocking her view, but she could hear voices now, a male one, which she had recognized as the new officer who had left her moments earlier with that scum-sucker, Officer Zane, his voice billowed out now.

"Put the earth down, kid, you're outnumbered and under arrest for assaulting an officer!" his voice was clear and harsh, Lin could see the multiple chunks of earth suspended around the centre of officers. The voice that replied was both aggressive and disgusted, it also belonged _on the other-side of the bay_, with that, Lin was starting to feel pretty aggressive herself.

"Assaulting an officer? You think that was assault? Then you have no idea! No wait, that's right you know **exactly** what assault is right! You've done enough of it yourself! Maybe I should **remind you!**"San's voice grew louder with rage and the earth she had suspended started to shack. Lin could imagine San was also shacking with in a similar fashion.

Lin had heard enough, she threw up her arms, feeling the earth with her bending, with a quick stomp of her left foot, bringing them down. The earth under San's control then slammed into the ground.  
Everyone turned to face Lin startled due to her sudden appearance and as she approached the voice that still raged on, the officers parted.  
"Fine, I'll beat you with my fists then! You did a fine job without your bending!" San wailed, lurching towards Officer Zane who returned the action.  
"Enough!" Lin snapped. With that, Officer Zane reluctantly stopped and took a step back, San however did not. San continued her assault on the officer by throwing her now raw fists against any part of his body that was not covered in metal.  
Lin, having had enough of the day already, lost her patience so she threw her cables out around San's wrists and waist. Before she pulled the struggling eighteen year old into her grip, she took a firm hold of San's forearm and pulled the girl into her side, holding her there.  
"I said enough."  
San looked up at Lin with her best death glare, she was still shaking with rage but she stopped struggling.  
"Now then," Lin began, "Let's take this somewhere private," she looked to the other officers "And get back to work." The officers nodded and departed, leaving Lin with San and Officer Zane.

Lin kept San secure at her side while she turned and walked back to the interrogation room with Zane on her heels.  
She closed the metal doors after them, shoved San into a seat and cuffed her as protocol, while San made a face but didn't say anything.

"Chief, I wanna press charges! I was on my way back to you from lockup, then she just came out of no where and started attacking me!" Zane said, standing by the door while Lin made sure San's hands where secure.  
Lin took her seat across from San and watched the reactions play across her face carefully. She saw no surprise on San's face, so Zane was telling the truth.  
"Alright, well, take a seat officer" she said, indicating to the seat next to San. Zane gave San a look of distrust, in response Lin, raised her eyebrow at him; a silent challenge that asked if he was really scared of a little girl in handcuffs.  
He took a seat.  
"Now, you say she just attacked you?" Lin questioned, her voice thick and professional. This was her job, she would treat them the same as any felon she questioned, there are no exceptions. "San?" she looked to San questioningly.  
"He deserved it," she said, her voice nearly matching Lin's cold-hard tone, "He beat me first."  
Lin had not expected that, she studied Sans face carefully focusing on the way she breathed evenly, she knew San wasn't lying, for all the things San had done in her eighteen years, she had never lied to Lin.  
Officer Zane's face was red and scrunched.  
"I don't know what she's talking about Chief." he said.  
"San explain. You look fine, you haven't taken a beating recently." Lin frowned, she would have noticed right? She had seen San just yesterday.  
San stared at the desk, "He..." she took a deep breath, "Him and his friend, they threw me to the floor and started kicking me, punching me, laughing. I was unconscious for three days." She looked back at Lin, her eyes reflecting the lights, "If he's pressing charges against me, then I'm pressing charges against him! And I don't think that a council will side with an adult male who beats a little girl unconscious." San said her voice growing surprisingly dark. Lin was slightly taken aback, she'd never heard San talk that way. She needed a second opinion.  
"Don't move!" Lin ordered.  
The Chief walked over to the wall, bent the door open and leaned out she saw that Saikhan was just walking down the hall. Although they hadn't been on the best of terms lately, he was still her best officer, so she called him over and quietly briefed him in the door way, he nodded with acknowledgement and closed the door before going to sit at the desk with her.  
When they got to the table, Lin noticed San had moved as far from Zane as the table would allow, uncharacteristic, Lin noted. San was an earth-bender, she stood her ground.

"Officer Zane, what do you have to say to these accusations?" Saikhan questioned, his voice stern, Lin knew he hated men who beat on kids, she also knew that despite all the trouble San had caused him, he had always been kind to her. He respected her strength and consistency, although, he wouldn't let that cloud his judgment.  
"I have never seen this girl before, these accusations are crazy." Zane said, neither Lin or Saikhan felt a change in his breathing or heart rate, but they both knew that wasn't right, they had come across people who could control their reactions before, it wasn't possible for San and Zane to both be telling the truth.  
San made a face and took a breath, she looked to Lin,  
"Chief, can you take my cuffs off? I need to go to the bathroom" she made a pleading face.  
Lin sighed, she felt the change in San's heart rate with her bending, she knew San was lying, but San seemed to need to get away for a moment, she probably wanted to wash her face and the clean up her hands.

The moment the cuffs were off, San turned around and slammed Officer Zane's head onto the table, she then dodged behind him as Lin tried to grab her again. San initiated an assault on the man's neck using all her strength.  
Without warning Zane jumped out and grabbed her by the throat, he pushed her back with it, throwing her a little away, and meeting her attack when she jumped back at him.

Lin, again, threw out a cable and bent it around San's waist, restraining her almost absently. While pushing back the accused officer with her free hand, San made sounds of protest and pulled on the wire, yanking Lin slightly in her direction. Saikhan then took the accused officer by the shoulders and towards the door, as he passed them, Lin leaned in and whispered something to Saikhan, the two men left the room and closed the door after them.  
Leaving Lin free and alone to deal with the girl who now sat against a metal wall with her fists dented halfway through it, her breathing heavy and entirely uncontrolled, her whole body shook with tension.  
Lin unwound the cable with her hands not her bending, trying to calm San. San never metal-bent in public, it was a condition of Lin training her so she knew San had really lost her temper, although no one else had noticed and San had concealed it well.

"Well, that was all ridiculous," Lin said sitting down next to San, no one would interrupt them under Lin's orders, they were not to be disturbed under any circumstances now, not even if the building was on fire.

San struggled to get her breathing under control taking deep long breaths, her muscles remained tensed and her face held a scowl not native to her features. "You have no idea what you're talking about. What that man did." San whispered, her voice at odds with her exterior. Lin knew something was really, really wrong, that hadn't just been about San being insulted or challenged, it was far deeper than that, he had done something to her.  
"What else" Lin asked gently, as the fight quickly began to drain from San, "What did he do?"  
San shook her head seemingly out of energy, Lin, however, needed to know, acting out of character or at least her public character. Lin put her hands on San's shoulders and turned her,  
"San, tell me."  
San's face pinched and she looked away.  
"San-"  
Lin was cut off as the girl threw herself at Lin. Her head made a dull _thwack_ sound as it made contact with Lin's amour at the shoulder.  
Lin was momentarily taken aback -this was not how San behaved and she never volunteered her embrace, but still, Lin instinctively reacted by wrapping her arms around the girl. She could feel San's torso shaking as the girl held back sobs, Lin didn't quite know what to do, she had never had to deal with this kind of behavior before. "San... Come on now, hey, kid... Kid!" Lin took her shoulders firmly and put her a little away so she could make eye contact, "What happened?!" it was a demand that had such a strong, comforting and somehow caring tone of voice, San responded the exact way that Lin wanted.

San swallowed, her eyes wet, "He was on the farm in Gaoling." she whispered.  
This all made sense now and Lin knew where it was going, but she needed to hear it from San, and she needed to know exactly what had happened when San was in Gaoling.

**(A/N: give me another two days or so and i'll update again, I just started a new job so i'll be pretty sleep-deprived tonight and tommorow. :D  
please review!)**


	4. Chapter 4

It was 2am when Lin watched silently as San snuck out of the house. Where could she possibly be going? What was she up to?  
Whatever it was it couldn't have been good if she had to sneak out to do it.

San shivered a little and pulled her coat closer around her, it was still cold in the early morning light, her breath fogging with each exhale.

It was too early for any respectable citizen to be lurking about the city or some street kids rummaging through dump-bins for food or some ladies of loose morales called out to men of equally low morality, but mostly everyone slept. San, then, noticed the particular boy she was after this morning lounging across the feet of Fire Lord Zuko's statue. She walked over to the base and looked up at him, "Hey, kid! Get down here!" she called up to him. When Skoochy made no signs on waking up, she punched the base of the statue, making it vibrate violently with her bending, doing so until Skoochy tumbled off the side and onto the floor at her feet with a _umph_  
"Get up kid, I have butts to kick and you have yuans to earn" San informed him while pulling out a handful of the folded stuff.  
"Alright, alright. What do you wanna know today?" he replied irritated and rubbing him bruised rump.  
"Where and when?" San asked pushing the bills into Skoochy's hand.  
"Alright, but I don't have much for you this morning..." he said matter-of-factly.  
"Oh?" San said, slightly amused but mostly annoyed with the kid who seemed to increase his prices at every chance. She wouldn't mind, a kids gotta make a living, although, she was running out of her own funds, and didn't have room for a job in her plans and there was no way she would ask her mother for any, "Why's that?"  
Skoochy rubbed his nose and tilted his cap, "My expenses have gone up, it seems the information you're after is a lot harder to come by now than it was last week., he said all business-like.

It wasn't more than three hours after Lin watched San sneak out that she got a phone call from police headquarters. There, of course, was a situation and she had to go in. Reluctantly, Lin got dressed, she was certain her body needed more sleep than it received, but when duty called, Lin Beifong answered it.

When she got to the station, an officer briefed her. A big shot triad member had been brought in. Park rangers had found him on their morning rounds as he had been bound to the railing of a bridge with his own belt and been left there hanging over the water by his bound wrists.  
When they questioned him, he had told them some lie about getting himself tangled up on a morning stroll and how if they had nothing to charge him with he would be leaving, "I've got some business to take care of," he said.  
Lin ran through lists of this guys charges and called around for witnesses willing to testify. This is going to be a long day.  
Sometimes it would just be easier if she could throw them in a cell and leave them there to rot, but that wasn't justice. She couldn't determine the fate of any one person herself, that was ultimately a choice for the council to decide.

San ran across the bay bridge as fast as she could. She was running late for her reading lesson, which wouldn't normally bother her- she still didn't think she needed to know how to read and write better than she already could, she got by just fine, but she had to keep a tight schedule today, if she was late for her lesson she would be late for her next meeting. San couldn't afford to be late to that meeting, and she wasn't sure she would have a quiet bed to go home to if she didn't attend her lesson.

Lin had barely finished the necessary paperwork for the triad member from that morning and it was getting late when they brought another two in. Both were beaten a bit and all restrained by their belts to a nearby landmark where they could easily be found by authorities.  
Lin decided it was time to discuss the probability of some stupid vigilantly at work in Republic Cit. The whole thing was a nuisance that she hated. When stupid people went about playing hero in her city, it never ended well for anyone and she was quite confident that if they did not find and stop this vigilante before long, they would be pulling their bodies out of Yue Bay.

Too tired to work through the night on the new crimes that were repeating the same process she had only just completed, Lin told her officers to throw and detain the criminals in a cell for the night before she headed home to get some much needed rest.

She had the feeling that this vigilante person is going to be a real problem for her.

San was startled into semi-consciousness when the hand she sleeps with constantly pressed to the floor next to her mattress, feels foot steps approaching the hall. After realizing that it was just the chief, she promptly fell back asleep, too tired to greet the probably grumpy woman. She always seemed mad with San, well mad with everyone really, except perhaps her metalbenders. Back when she was young, San had hoped to learn metalbending, which would bring them on friendlier grounds, but of course, it had not.

Lin peeked through the open crack in San's doorway, when she noticed that San was asleep with her covers kicked off the bed, Lin went in to pull them back over San. She, then, brushed some hair out of San's face with a soft touch Lin hadn't know she was capable of until eighteen years earlier, she then left to clean up for bed herself. Although, it wasn't until Lin had turned the light in her bathroom on that the gleam of something red catches her eye.

It was blood.

Meanwhile, downtown a messenger boy ran through a dodgy building full of questionable characters counting dirty money and shoving it into brown burlap sacks. He crossed some names off on his list and recorded the daily haul from each venue or exploited individual, so he could increase their price next time.  
The boy wove his way through the crowd and halls of the house before coming to a halt outside a large wooden door, where he stopped and knocked lightly. There was shouting from within and a buff man opened the door just enough to stick his head out and glare down at the boy who handed the buff the message and high tailed it on out of there.  
"A message sir," the buff said turning from the door to face a large desk which sat three men, one sighed and leaned back from his game of pai cho unamused.  
"Well, what is it this time? If it's the Buffalo Wolf Triad infringing our treaty again, I'm going to declare war!"  
"No, sir, it is not them, it seems that the individual Brutes mentioned earlier."  
A man at the table dressed in red slammed his fist in agitation as he lost the game of pai sho spoke up, "Remind me!"  
"The one who tied Shivy to the bridge and left him there for the police. Apparently they've done the same to Boss Delt and Boss Zeerj, sir." the doorman informed slipping the folded message onto the desk.  
For the first time that night, the third man at the table spoke up, "Well, then, I think we can all agree that this person needs to be made an example. We can't just have people going around questioning, threatening and abusing the members of our... Organization." His blue robes flowed out as he stood, "Arrange it, I want this person taken care of" and his eyes grew menacingly dark while he leaned forward, "painfully."

**(AN: just wanted to let you know, ****pandamochi123**** was a legend and beta'd this for you all... i'm not sure you'd want to read it if it wasn't beta'd... i'm not sure you'd be able to. so thanks them for that! I've almost finished the next chapter sorry the last few had been short.)  
(Let me know what you think)**


	5. Chapter 5 (unedited)

**(AN: ***NOT YET BETA'd*** sorry guys but i wanted to get it up asap, so if you want you can just check back next time i update by then this chapter will be beta'd. if you don't really care, please read on, just don't complain about my poor writing okay.**  
**cheers. THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS EVERYONE! guests if you sighn into an account so i can love you that would be great!)**

San snuck out again that morning, despite how heavy her eyelids where, despite the bruise like bags under her eyes and the sluggish feeling of her limbs, she probably would have actually managed to get a whole six hours sleep the night before if it wasn't for Lin.

The night before Lin had firmly shaken San for several minutes until San finally gave a horse cry of annoyance, which was rewarded with a solid strike to sans arm. "what?!" San frowned rubbing her sore arm, "I'm sleeping, turn the light off, I don't care if the house is on fire, it's because I'm so hot!" San had pulled open her eyelids to glare at Lin, but before she got the chance Lin's expression took her off guard she looked furious, "what have I done now? I went to my stupid lesson! I didn't get into any trouble with the police? What-" Lin cut her off,

" you got into some kind of trouble! You're practically bleeding out!"

"what? Oh." San said, touching the cut across her temple, where there was once a small scar from when she was a child and had been struck with a rock, it now held a gash the size of a child's index finger and was slowly but steadily leaking red fluid . "it's just a scratch, it's fine, I'll clean the mess up in the morning." San said, pulling out of Lin's gripp and throwing herself back onto the mattress, only to be grabbed up again.

"you could have a concussion! You can't go to sleep" Lin said as if this where obvious, "when did this happen? How did this happen?"

San made a point to never lie to Lin, but here she seriously considered it for a moment, the chief of police probably wouldn't have believed San anyway, "well I got into a fight after my lesson with this guy who called me a retard because I couldn't read well, so I beat the Snot out of him, but he got in a few good hits too." San said, and it was the truth, if only slightly that.

Lin believed it, she obviously knew it wasn't the whole truth, but what right did she really have to pry further into San's life?

Well okay, she did technically have lots of rights; she was the chief of police and suspected sans activities to be unlawful, San was living under her roof... But San didn't see it that way.

Still Lin who had looked as tired as San now felt had stayed up all night to make sure she was okay, and San has almost enjoyed herself when they cracked out the old training pads and built up a fort, the kind San had often made when she was young, metel walls and a roof of pretty fabric, a Chain bared door like a prison cell, spikes protruding from the floor around it to keep out invaiding forces

It wasn't till just before San left that Lin had fallen asleep in said fort, just before sun rise.

It was hard for San to remember her childhood, parts seemed to come to her in flashes of memory, but mostly it remand forgotten -feeling like several lifetimes ago- she could hardly even remember what she wanted to be when she grew to be the age she is now. Most likely she had wanted to be a police officer or someone of high importance.

Skoochy was waiting for her that morning, with top secret information, as usual San did not ask him where he got his information, he had not failed her so far.

He told her the Tripple threat was holding another recruitment session, this time in an abandoned wearhouse by Yue Bay.

When Lin woke up to the sun burning her face through the open curtains and the bars of the fort, she was not surprised to find San gone, she got ready for the day regardless, half asleep with puffy eyes, today was the day she got to throw that sick Zane bastard in a damp cold cell where he could rot for what he'd done to San and that farming family. She hoped it would be justice enough, although she would personally rather set him alight and watch as he burned slow and painfully like the cattle on the farm had, she appreciated the near poetic irony. Regardless she would be no better than him if she stooped to such levels, therefore she'd given him a fair trial, the verdict had been guilty and he was due to be transported from headquarters to the cities prisons at noon.

It was a good thing, San thought, that the triads session was not until dusk, that gave her plenty of time to prepare. The first thing on her list was go visit that Zane jerk before he went to prison, part of San hoped he would suffer and die in prison from some terrible kind of prisoner out break maybe even a gang hit, but she knew that these hopes where wrong and not fuelled by the need for justice but simply cold hearted revenge. For all San knew Zane had been out for a similar brand of revenge that night, only he hadn't cared who his actions had effected or how, San did.

On her way to head quarters San considered how long it had been since she had played a light hearted prank on the officers within, surely they where getting bored now, without the avatar tearing things up. She should entertain them, give them something to do.

she smiled her own crocked smile and gazed up at the statue of Toph Bei Fong, Toph would defiantly have approved.

No one noticed The small dark haired girl who wove her way effortless and causally through police head quarters, She causally picked up an item from each desk and dropped it off on a different desk, the objects where personal items like a photograph, framed news clipping, letter, book, mug and at one point San even relocated a stuffed turtle duck, before sitting down at an officers desk and began reading through some case files, she watched quietly laughing as officer after officer sat down at their desk and noticed things missing, got annoyed surching for their belongings then went off to find the person they thought had stole it.

Lin was enjoying a hot cup of tea in her office when the arguing from the officers lounge outside became too loud to ignore, Lin set her cup down and went to see what all the commotion was about.

"What's going on out here?" She demanded in her best chief voice.

"Everyone's personal effects have been relocated chief-"

"My mums photo is missing!"

"My paper clippings-"

"My mug is missing!"

Lin held up her hands and the crowd of officers instantly ceased from speaking.

"Is it really necessary to get so worked up. Can't you just put your stuff back, honestly-" Lin noticed a smiling figure in the centre of the room sat casually fanning themselves with a metal clipboard, Lin sighed. "Alright, alright, if anything is still missing at the end of the day write a description of the item down and leave it on my desk." Lin commanded, "until then don't you all have work to do?!"

Lin eyed the figure with a frown, they shared a silent conversation, before San stood up and walked through the doors of Lin's office, unnoticed by all.

Lin retreated to her office shortly after San, when she entered her office she was not surprised to find San sitting on top of her dark with crossed legs, and drinking the remainder of Lin's tea.

"Cute" Lin said sarcastically, she walked over and took her seat looking up at San, who seemed to be half awake, smiling her absent smile.

"I don't know what your talking about." Came the lazy response.

"Mmhmmm." Lin felt pretty lazy today herself, the lack of sleep was starting to effect the efficiency of her thinking process. She reached a hand out to slowly push San off the desk so she could continue with her paperwork, "what can I do for you today young lady?" Lin enquired not bothering to look at San as she spoke.

"I just wanted to be there when they throw that.. Man" San had difficulty saying the word, her mouth prduced extra saliva in discuss and if she where a sizzle-snake she would probably have produced venom instead.

Lin looked at San now with concern, she had known alot, but nothing at the same time.

Lin had known when San was in the earth kingdom that there had been an incident on the farm in which the farm was destroyed and San herself was rendered unconscious for a time, Lin had known that when San returned to republic city some years after that San had nightmares and was much more withdrawn than she already had been, but Lin had never known why, when San told her everything that happened on the farm, the way it had all made her feel and the way it still made her feel Lin had felt her own heart

pained.

She falt responsible for what had happened to San and Lin worried that the experience might in fact, not, have made San stronger, but may have broken her even more, it wouldn't have been a problem for Lin to deal with any physical pain that the kid was goin through, she could stick a bandaid on it and tell her to toughen up. Lin didn't know what she could do to fix and of San's physiological issues. She'd never been good with kind words, everything Lin said was to the point and usually ended up causing pain the the other person.

Noon, four police officers where escorting a bound Zane to the transport vehicle.  
by the vehicle stood Lin right next to san, her stance solid and sturdy, a beam of streingth should San need it.

San watched with her arms crossed as they began to lead Zane over, "wait!" San yelled suddenly.  
she marched herself over quickly with Lin hot on her heals, San came to a stop in front of Zane and smiled, a few seconds past like this.

"What?!" Zane demanded,

"I'm gloating." Said San simply, then she leaned in closer, "I just want you to know that jail is the safest place for you. you had better stay there." San could see her own glare reflecting back through Zanes eyes, "because if you ever get out" she whispered, voice going so dark and low Lin standing just behind san barley heard it "I'm going to kill you" his eyes widened.

San stepped back and the officers shoved Zane into the vehicle.

Lin glanced breifly from San to Zane who was being thrown into the vehicle, when she termed back about to question San, she was gone.

Lin gave a frustrated growl and marched herself off for some lunch at a near by dinner.

She would see San at home.

**(AN: sorry there wasn't a lot of action in this chapter peeps, but i'm laying down some essentials for later on in the story. each part in, in fact, essential. thanks for reading and please review!)**


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